Does Gender Matter?

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Women, Tolkien and the Online Fanfiction Community
The current Tolkien online fanfiction community, like most fanfiction communities, is one in which most of the writers are women, many of whom are writing in male-character dominated environments. The Tolkien online fanfiction community has grown exponentially over the past 18 months since the release of the Peter Jackson films of The Lord of the Rings. Is the gender of the writers of current Tolkien fanfiction relevant to their desire to write new stories set within Middle-earth? The author, who is both a woman and a Tolkien fan, wondered about this, and decided to ask the writers themselves. She posted a survey to the current writers, asking questions relating to why they write Tolkien fanfiction and their relationship, if any, to the women characters in Tolkien’s works. This paper examines the 62 replies that were received over a two week time period in February, 2003. The results are complex and inconclusive, though many responses are illustrative of the way this community sees itself in relationship to Tolkien’s writings, each other, and the world at large.

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